Pandemic's consequences: Hardest-hit European countries enter recession, facing depression

(Patria) - France and Italy entered recession in the first three months of this year, while Spain faced a sharp decline in GDP, according to new data on the economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic on the hardest-hit countries in the world.

GDP (Gross Domestic Product) is one of the key indicators of economic health as it shows the value of final goods and services produced in a country during a specific period, expressed in monetary units.

As such, GDP includes all private and public consumption, government spending, investments, construction work, as well as the external trade balance, e.g., if exports were greater than imports.  

According to data from Eurostat, the official statistics agency of the EU, the GDP of the European Union decreased by 3.5% in the first quarter.

This decline is even more evident in the eurozone, which consists of 19 countries, where GDP is down by as much as 3.8%, and is attributed solely to the pandemic that paralyzed the economy.

In France, the decline is 5.8%, the largest since 1949 according to the country's statistics agency, and is mainly linked to the closure of non-essential businesses. This means that France is also already in recession.

The French government plans to ease restrictions on May 11 because, according to Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, maintaining the measures could have catastrophic consequences for the economy.

Italy is also in recession with a GDP decline of 4.7%, its worst result since 1995.

Italy was the first country to introduce restrictive measures, but it remains the hardest-hit country by the pandemic in the world, after the US.

Among EU member states, the Spanish economy has been the hardest hit by the pandemic; its GDP faced a decline of 5.2%, its worst result since the early seventies.